I figured I should ask one of my friends about why they don't like going to India as much as I do. The first person that came into mind was my friend, Rejeena (I like to call her Rej). The funny thing is, I'm pretty sure she has gone to India a lot more than I have. So I decided to ask her a few questions that I was curious about.
Me: How many times have you been to India?
Rej: About 5-7 times
Me: Do you look forward to going whenever your parents have booked the tickets?
Rej: No, of course not! I hate it. I already have the mindset that I'm not going to have any fun. I'm not used to the technology, or should I say lack thereof. My mom's house has no wifi. The electricity goes out exactly at 8 pm every single day. Roosters and chicken wake me up at 6 am. I have to wait for water to boil on this stove made of a pile of sticks burning because the shower there produces no hot water. And it's superhot and I get at least five mosquito bites a day. I seriously look forward to sleeping every night because when I wake up, I'm one day closer to being home.
Me: Do you have a lot of family to spend time with there?
Rej: Yeah, I usually go for my cousins' weddings. All of my mom's side lives in India, and some of my dad's uncles and children live there, too.
Me: What do you think of the 18 hours of travel just to get to India?
Rej: I don't mind the travel because that means less time in India
Me: Is there anything else you want to add?
Rej: Well, when I'm in New Jersey, I never have time to be home. I'm always running around, meeting up with friends, it's weird not being around that in India. I don't know what to talk to my cousins about and I can hardly speak the language so we have a barrier. We do somehow manage to have fun. They're really patient with me and we all just laugh at each other and act stupid.
Me: What do you think of India as a whole?
Rej: Well minus my cousins, I feel like a tourist in India. I feel like everyone is just staring and in the back of my mind I'm freaking out because I think someone is going to steal from us.
Well, I think this gives a little insight as to why some American Born Indians might not like going to India. Technology is really different there. Wifi is not as easy to find in Kerala, and people in this generation seriously depend on it. There's also a language barrier that might make it difficult for some people to communicate. Overall, I think these are all problems that can be solved!
i recently went to the dominican republic and have experienced the same thing your friend did. we are so self involved that we can't live with out wifi and nowadays kids dont care about their distant family. there is a big difference between people from india and indian americans. i enjoyed the style of this blog as well
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